


I Remember You

by jng



Category: South Park
Genre: Angst, M/M, My attempt at angst, Rock Star AU, Song fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 03:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13778961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jng/pseuds/jng
Summary: Kyle was trapped in a snow globe. He was forced to look at everything happening from the outside from a limited perspective, while he was chained to his cavern of abandonment. The boy was chained, destined to watch his one best friend rise to stardom, while he was confined to his prison. He could scream and bang on the walls, but it was hopeless.





	I Remember You

_ “Woke up to the sound of pouring rain.” _

Kyle plucked at the strings of his guitar. He uttered the song lyrics softly into the microphone. A few patrons sat around to watch, but for the most part no one paid him any attention. He couldn’t blame them, really. 

_ “The wind would whisper, and I’d think of you.” _

Deep down, he couldn’t help but wonder what Stan would think of all of this.  _ Stan _ . Just his name left a bitter flavor in his mouth.

It didn’t  _ matter  _ what Stan would think.  _ Stan  _ made his choice.  _ Stan  _ had chosen someone else over him; someone that would add to his constant wealth and popularity. While Stan was out there, rolling in fame, Kyle had been kicked to the curb with nothing but his guitar and a shadow of who he used to be.

Somehow, he had picked up a gig at Skeeter’s Wine Bar. Skeeter hadn’t asked too many questions about it. He had just said “You’re pretty good at that. How would you like to make some money?” and low and behold, Kyle had been hired. He supposed it wasn’t all bad.

_ “And all the tears you cried that called my name, and when you needed me I came though.” _

Thousands of small, invisible cuts crossed his heart like constellations. 

Everything felt heavy. That was really the only way he could describe it. His eyes stung with unshed tears. 

_ “I paint a picture of the days gone by.” _

His fingers flew across his guitar, from chord to chord as if they had a mind of their own. Kyle remembered exactly how he felt the day it all fell apart. He was a glass tower, and Stan had been a wrecking ball; in one swing, everything had been shattered. Kyle was still trying to pick up all the pieces. 

_ “When love went blind and you would make me see.” _

All the color in his once bright world had been drained, and in its place was a painted on bleak landscape. Crumbling irises and green faded to grey painted his life. 

_ “I’d stare a lifetime into your eyes, so that I knew that you were there for me.” _

The words burned his tongue.

_ “Time after time you were there for me.” _

Kyle was trapped in a snow globe. He was forced to look at everything happening from the outside from a limited perspective, while he was chained to his cavern of abandonment. The boy was chained, destined to watch his one best friend rise to stardom, while he was confined to his prison. He could scream and bang on the walls, but it was hopeless. 

_ “Remember yesterday, walking hand and hand, love letters in the sand, I remember you.” _

He wanted to forget. All of it, so vivid in his head like a movie on repeat, he wanted to forget it all.

_ “Through the sleepless nights, through every endless day, I’d want to hear you say, I remember you.” _

Somehow, he managed to choke out the lyrics to the song. Memories of that night haunted him like a ghost in an abandoned mansion.

It had started off as an average day. Kyle had been called into the studio for whatever reason. He figured it was to discuss their new single.

It had all been too good to be true. The popularity, record deals, fortune. For a time, he had been rolling in it. He should have known none of it would last.

Walking into that studio, he had known something was off. 

The slight strumming of a familiar pattern of chords echoed lightly through the hallways. That was the tune of their song.  _ Their song.  _ The song they had written  _ together _ . They had put so much time and effort into it. All the countless nights spent in Stan’s basement, trying to find the right chords and the right melody. The continuous meetings, discussing what they wanted to do and what they wanted the song to be about. After all of that work, they had finally completed it, and damn was Kyle proud of it.

They played their song for Open Mic Night at Tweek Bros one night. Stan had proposed the idea, and while Kyle was originally skeptical, he let Stan talk him into it. Surprisingly, he had had the time of his life up on that stage, and the audience seemed to enjoy the entirety of the performance. 

Being up on that stage… something that Kyle had never experienced surged within him. There was a rush to it, playing in front of multiple people. Little did he know that that night would be the rise and fall of his music career.

_ “We spent the summer with the top rolled down, wished ever after it would be like this.” _

After the show was over, they had packed it up. All of their guitars and amplifiers and everything had been thrown into the back of Stan’s truck, when they were approached.

Well, more specifically  _ Stan  _ was approached. Kyle had just been there, and by association he was involved too.

The man that had approached them had said he was a music producer and wanted to be their manager. That night, everything had changed. 

_ “You said ‘I love you, babe’ without a sound,” _

The libretto was almost suffocating.

_ “I said I’d give my life for just one kiss, I’d live for your smile and die for your kiss.” _

Kyle was drowning in the sound of his own voice.

His walls were crumbling down. Visible cracks ran through his facade. Somehow, he needed to patch it up.

Stan’s voice echoed in his head.

“Listen Kyle, I was hoping I could tell you later but… We’re splitting up. This just isn’t going to work.”

At that moment, Kyle’s world had collapsed. 

“Stan, what are you saying?” His voice quivered.

“I’m saying we’re better off on our own.” Stan wouldn’t meet his eyes. “We’re not going to get anywhere working together. I’m going solo.”

Kyle tightened his grip on his guitar handle. A mixture of deep red and ocean blue clouded his mind. A fire ignited in his veins and spread throughout his body. He set everything ablaze. “Are you kidding me? I thought we were in this together.”

“Kyle I’m sorry. This is just how it has to be.”

“How it has to be? Bullshit. You said we were going to do this together, and now that we’ve made it you’re just going to drop me like that?” Venom fueled his every word. “Fine. I don’t need you anyways.”

Before Stan could utter a single sound, he turned on his heel and marched out the studio doors. Sometimes Kyle wondered just how different everything could have been if he had only stayed. Did it really matter in the end?

_ “Remember yesterday, walking hand and hand, love letters in the sand, I remember you. Through the sleepless nights, through every endless day, I’d want to hear you say I remember you.” _

Kyle plucked harder at the metal guitar strings. His voice was hollow and oppressed, a hard resemblance of each one of the thoughts going through his head.

_ “We’ve had our share of hard times, but that’s the price we paid.” _

All of it, gone. The complexities he had worked up to, just like that it was all gone.

_ “And through it all we kept the promise that we made, ‘I swear you’ll never be lonely.’” _

A shiver ran up his spine.

His cry cut through the room with the swiftness of a freshly sharpened knife, clear as rain.

_ “Woke up to the sound of pouring rain, washed away a dream of you.” _

The weight of all the memories was pure agony.

_ “But nothing else could ever take you away, ‘cause you’ll always be my dream come true.” _

The truth of it was sore on his tongue.

_ “Oh my darling, I love you.” _

Late night kisses shared on the roof of his mom’s car, underneath a bed of twinkling stars. The feel of Stan’s body on his, Stan’s lips against his, fitting perfectly like two puzzle pieces. Once warm and fuzzy quickly turned to shards of metal.

_ “Remember yesterday, walking hand and hand, love letters in the sand, I remember you. Through the sleepless nights through every endless day, I’d want to hear you say I remember you.” _

A knife through his back.

_ “Remember yesterday, walking hand and hand, love letters in the sand, I remember you. Through the sleepless nights through every endless day, I’d want to hear you say I remember you.” _

At some point, he had shut his eyes.

Slowly, Kyle opened his eyes. A crowd had built around him.

Applause roared in excitement and awe. The boy forced a small smile onto his face, as he set down his guitar. He leaned into the mic. “We’re uh, we’re gonna take five, be back soon.”

The boy stood up and made a beeline for the bar before anyone could say anything. Making direct eye contact with Skeeter, not a word was spoken. The older man slid a beer across the table.

Kyle raised it in thanks and downed half of it in just a few gulps. 

“Hey, aren’t you the guy from that one band?  _ Style _ , I think it was called?”

_ Shit. _

Kyle looked at his beer bottle. “You have the wrong guy.”

A little blonde girl with startling blue eyes took a seat next to him. “Yeah, you are him! Whatever happened to  _ Style? _ ”

“You have the wrong guy.” Kyle repeated again, almost like a broken record. 

The girl pursed her lips in consideration. “Hmm…” 

Biting back a harsh swear, he took another swig of his beer.

“Well, what’s a guy like you doing alone in a place like this?” She asked. Gently, she placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Working.” 

“What’s a girl have to do to get some company around here? Give me a call after you get out, okay?” She slid a piece of paper with her number scrawled on it towards him, then stood up. “The name’s Bebe, by the way.” She dropped a flirty wink, then sashayed away.

Kyle grunted. He barely spared one look at the paper before cramming into his jacket pocket.

Would he call her? He’d think about it.

When Stan had declared going solo, not only had he broken up the band.

He had broke his heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so about a day ago I was listening to the song "I Remember You" by Skid Row and kind of had this idea for a Style rock star au. Yes, this is essentially what happened in the episode "Guitar Queer-o" but how could I resist?  
> I've never written angst before, so I hope it turned out okay?   
> Feedback is highly appreciated!
> 
> hmu on tumblr @gayforstyle


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